What is the Award?
The NCWIT Joanne McGrath Cohoon Service Award recognizes distinguished faculty and staff who have effectively challenged and changed the systems that shape the experiences of women and gender non-conforming students from all intersecting identities in undergraduate computing programs. We seek nominees who have:
- demonstrated exceptional commitment to creating lasting systemic change to broaden participation in computing for women and gender non-conforming students;
- successfully implemented practices and/or policies to foster an environment of gender equity and inclusion in one or more undergraduate computing programs; and
- meaningfully participated in impactful local and national service to broaden participation in computing, especially advancing the recruitment and retention of students from women and gender non-conforming students in undergraduate computing programs.
The nominee may be currently in the field or retired, as we are looking at lifelong work.
The award is given in memory of Dr. Cohoon’s outstanding research and advocacy work to broaden and enrich women’s participation in computing. For more information about Dr. Cohoon, see below. The award includes a trophy and a $10,000 gift to the recipient’s institution thanks to the generous sponsorship of AT&T.
Who Is Eligible to Be Nominated?
- Faculty members (any rank, tenure line, teaching, or professional) or staff members (of any gender identity) who have worked effectively to implement systemic change in postsecondary computing over the course of their career.
- Nominees must be employed at or retired from U.S. institutions that are current members of the NCWIT Higher Ed Alliance. Verify organizational membership here. If the nominee’s institution is not yet a member, then a membership application must be completed here. Note that all institutions of higher education are eligible for Higher Education Alliance membership if they have or are developing a computing-related program(s); membership is free for non-profit public and private institutions.
- Individuals can be nominated for work they have done at their current or previous institutions, or both.
- Nominees may be currently active in the field or retired.
- Previous award recipients are not eligible to receive the award again.
- Self-nominations are welcome.
When and Where Can I Submit a Nomination?
Nominations open September 15, 2024, and are due November 15, 2024, at 11:59 pm MT via this online form.
Who Is the Applicant in the Award Application Management System?
In the NCWIT SMApply award application management system, “applicant” is synonymous with “nominator.”
What Information Do the Nominator, Nominee, and Recommenders Need to Complete the Online Nomination Form?
The nominator will be asked to provide the following information:
- Nominee’s name, email, institution, and homepage or bio URL
- Nominator’s name and email
The nominee (or the nominator in the case of a self-nomination) will be asked to provide the following:
- A nominee statement describing how they have contributed to implementing systemic change in their postsecondary computing program. The nominee should describe how it has significantly improved the environment for women and gender non-conforming undergraduate students of all intersecting identities, with attention to practices or interventions that systemically advance the diversity, equity, and inclusion of those from historically excluded groups. Please see the NCWIT Undergraduate System Model for examples of areas of potential impact. We encourage nominees to provide evidence of sustained impact across time. This can be within their institution(s) and external to their institution(s). The strongest applications will contain examples of impact beyond individual students and beyond the scope of a single program. The statement may include links to external documents, webpages, and graphics, but please include brief descriptions of the additional materials in the statement itself. (no more than 500 words, uploaded as pdf file)
- Contact information for two (2) colleagues, peers, or institutional leaders who will submit letters of recommendation for the application. An email request for the letters will be generated through the application system. Note: any nominator who will submit a letter of support will need to do so through an email account that is different from the account through which they submitted the nomination. The system does not allow for dual nominator/recommender roles.
I Submitted My Nomination, Now What Do I Need to Do?
- Notify the nominee and ensure they received an invitation to collaborate on the application.
- Monitor your email or the application to ensure the nominee statement is uploaded by the November 15, 2024 11:59 pm MT deadline and that letters of recommendation are uploaded by the December 1, 2024 11:59 pm MT deadline.
- Mark the application sections as complete and submit the application once all materials are uploaded (completed applications will auto-submit at the deadline if not manually submitted)..
- You and your nominee will be notified by March 2025 regarding the status of your nomination.
I’ve Been Asked to Write a Letter of Recommendation, What Should I Include? (Due December 1, 2024)
The award application system will generate an invitation to recommenders to provide answers to the following prompts:
- How do you know the nominee? (250 words or less)
- Describe how the nominee has contributed to systemic and culture change at their current (and/or previous) institution to create an environment that is welcoming to women and gender non-conforming students of all intersecting identities, with attention to practices or interventions that systemically advance the diversity, equity, and inclusion of those from historically excluded groups. Strong recommendations will vividly describe how this work has been sustained across time and has wide ranging impacts in the postsecondary space both at their institutions(s) and external to their institution(s) (e.g., is larger than one time-bound program and impacts culture or policy, not just individual students). Please see the NCWIT Undergraduate System Model for examples of areas of potential impact. (250 words or less)
Recommenders should follow the link in their recommendation request email and upload their letter as a pdf. Signed letters of recommendation must be submitted by the December 1, 2024 11:59 pm MT.
Where Can I Find Online Information About This NCWIT Award?
Find online information at www.ncwit.org/joannecohoon.
What if I still have questions?
Email [email protected]
Who was Joanne McGrath Cohoon?
Joanne McGrath Cohoon was a Professor of Science, Technology, and Society in the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. She was also a founding research scientist for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). In both positions, she employed perspectives and methods from sociology to study gender, technology, and education.
A core finding of Joanne’s research was that departmental factors affected the gender balance in computing. In the late 1990s, Joanne conducted the first large-scale study that identified departmental cultures as the source of women’s high attrition from undergraduate CS. Prior to this, gender characteristics of individual women dominated the empirical landscape of women in computing, focusing on deficiency characteristics like sex role socialization, mathematical ability, and others.
Based on her first study, Joanne set out to understand whether the departmental factors were different for CS as compared to a major with many more women. She designed a mixed-methods study comparing CS and biology/life sciences faculty in 46 departments at the same institutions to compare their attrition rates, departmental settings, practices, and attitudes toward women. Joanne found that women are retained at similar rates to men in departments with less faculty turnover, when faculty had more positive attitudes toward women in their field, and where faculty believed they were important to student success and took action through mentoring and encouraging students. These findings were applied in NCWIT’s Extension Services program, in which departments undertake systemic change efforts.
Joanne later focused on gendered experiences in computing graduate programs and designed the Tapestry program to leverage the reach and influence of high school teachers for diversifying computing. Joanne was persistent and immensely creative; and she deeply appreciated the people who influenced and supported her. Joanne cared deeply about her family. In a story of her career progression presented at the Grace Hopper Conference for her Abie Award, she insisted that it include photos of her grandparents, her wedding photo with husband Jim, and two photos of her children. She was a delightful colleague and we miss her.
